Witching Metal Webzine
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sanguis Imperem/Nocturnal Blood – Imperial Impurity
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Double Dose of Doom Cult
Seeing as Diocletian and Witchrist (two killer bands from New Zealand) both released an album last year and they also share a few members, I’ve decided to review them both in this “special”. Prepare your orifices for a double dose of DOOM CULT!
Witchrist - Beheaded Ouroboros
Imagine, if you will, “Realm of Chaos” era Bolt Thrower having a jam with “Onward to Golgotha” era Incantation after listening to some militant black metal records (Blasphemy, Conqueror, Revenge and the like). This is evil and dark old-school death metal, not for the faint hearted.
“Beheaded Ouroboros” is one of those albums that you don’t usually “get” right away on the first listen, however, this is one album definitely worth taking the time to get into. It may take a few listens, but soon enough it will possess you with old-school bestial brutality and a hauntingly crushing atmosphere. However, I would not call this a “challenging listen” either, if you’re a fan of old school DM, you will enjoy it regardless.
It all starts off with some odd chanting and a bit of slow and crushing doomy type death metal that prepares you for things to come. A dark atmosphere and crushing riffs are the order of the day here. The production on this album fits the atmosphere that Witchrist aim to achieve perfectly, it’s not extremely raw but it’s certainly not clean, it keeps everything drenched in an aura of darkness and impurity.
The guitar sound is murky, distorted and down-tuned, as is the bass. The drum sound is great and goes from slow doomy dirges to blast beats whenever necessary, I’m not sure what else to say about it but don’t expect clicky triggered bullshit. The vocals sound like a mad man entombed in a deep dungeon. Basically, this release sounds as if it was recorded in a tomb, which is a good thing!
My personal favourite track here would have to be “Temple of War”. I’m not sure why, so don’t ask, there’s just something about this song that stands out for me. Every track is great and keeps up to a certain standard that the band has clearly set for themselves, though.
All in all, this is a completely solid release that proves to any naysayers that there is hope for death metal yet. For fans of: Teitanblood, Diocletian, Blasphemy, Archgoat, Proclamation, Incantation, Profanatica and Bolt Thrower.
5/5 one of my favourite releases of 2010.
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Diocletian – War of All Against All
If I were to say there exists such a thing as “forward thinking war metal”, you would probably think I’d lost my marbles! Unless, of course, you had already come face to face with the foul creature that is Diocletian.
“War of All Against All” is a unique record in every sense of the word. Try to picture in your minds’ ear, members of Blasphemy and members of “Sworn to the Dark” era Watain forming a band together and you’ll get some idea of where I’m going here. Intense chaotic madness transcends into melodic and atmospheric soundscapes all within the same song.
The production on this release fits the music perfectly and I have no qualms about it whatsoever. The guitar/bass sound is thick and crushing, whilst the vocals are inhuman and the drums flow perfectly with the different sections. Everything fits in together just right.
I can’t say much for stand-out tracks, as this is an album that you really need to experience in full, preferably with headphones on and in a quite and secluded place. It IS “war metal”, but it’s unlike anything you’ve heard before.
There isn’t much more to be said about this release, as it can’t truly be described with words typed on a screen. If you are a fan of black/death metal, but wish to hear something completely different at the same time, give this a go!
5/5
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Witchrist - Beheaded Ouroboros
Imagine, if you will, “Realm of Chaos” era Bolt Thrower having a jam with “Onward to Golgotha” era Incantation after listening to some militant black metal records (Blasphemy, Conqueror, Revenge and the like). This is evil and dark old-school death metal, not for the faint hearted.
“Beheaded Ouroboros” is one of those albums that you don’t usually “get” right away on the first listen, however, this is one album definitely worth taking the time to get into. It may take a few listens, but soon enough it will possess you with old-school bestial brutality and a hauntingly crushing atmosphere. However, I would not call this a “challenging listen” either, if you’re a fan of old school DM, you will enjoy it regardless.
It all starts off with some odd chanting and a bit of slow and crushing doomy type death metal that prepares you for things to come. A dark atmosphere and crushing riffs are the order of the day here. The production on this album fits the atmosphere that Witchrist aim to achieve perfectly, it’s not extremely raw but it’s certainly not clean, it keeps everything drenched in an aura of darkness and impurity.
The guitar sound is murky, distorted and down-tuned, as is the bass. The drum sound is great and goes from slow doomy dirges to blast beats whenever necessary, I’m not sure what else to say about it but don’t expect clicky triggered bullshit. The vocals sound like a mad man entombed in a deep dungeon. Basically, this release sounds as if it was recorded in a tomb, which is a good thing!
My personal favourite track here would have to be “Temple of War”. I’m not sure why, so don’t ask, there’s just something about this song that stands out for me. Every track is great and keeps up to a certain standard that the band has clearly set for themselves, though.
All in all, this is a completely solid release that proves to any naysayers that there is hope for death metal yet. For fans of: Teitanblood, Diocletian, Blasphemy, Archgoat, Proclamation, Incantation, Profanatica and Bolt Thrower.
5/5 one of my favourite releases of 2010.
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Diocletian – War of All Against All
If I were to say there exists such a thing as “forward thinking war metal”, you would probably think I’d lost my marbles! Unless, of course, you had already come face to face with the foul creature that is Diocletian.
“War of All Against All” is a unique record in every sense of the word. Try to picture in your minds’ ear, members of Blasphemy and members of “Sworn to the Dark” era Watain forming a band together and you’ll get some idea of where I’m going here. Intense chaotic madness transcends into melodic and atmospheric soundscapes all within the same song.
The production on this release fits the music perfectly and I have no qualms about it whatsoever. The guitar/bass sound is thick and crushing, whilst the vocals are inhuman and the drums flow perfectly with the different sections. Everything fits in together just right.
I can’t say much for stand-out tracks, as this is an album that you really need to experience in full, preferably with headphones on and in a quite and secluded place. It IS “war metal”, but it’s unlike anything you’ve heard before.
There isn’t much more to be said about this release, as it can’t truly be described with words typed on a screen. If you are a fan of black/death metal, but wish to hear something completely different at the same time, give this a go!
5/5
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Grave Miasma – Exalted Emanation
Does old-school British Death Metal with a dark and eerie Incantation “vibe” sound like your kind of thing? Are you a fan of morbid and dark music that will take you on a journey to the deepest, darkest depths of your own mind? Well then, I’ve got something for you, ya creepy deranged bastard.
Grave Miasma are a bunch of OSDM maniacs from London who clearly pay no attention to what’s going on in the world of so-called “Death Metal” these days and just crank out the old shit the way they like it. They started off back in ’02 as Goat Molestör, with a slightly more black metal orientated sound, before later becoming Grave Miasma.
“Exalted Emanation” is technically an EP, but the production and length make it feel like a full length album. Upon listening to this, you can tell this is a band that’s taken their time to put together something great. They’ve set themselves a standard here.
The songs on this release are deeply drenched in a thick and evil atmosphere comparable to early 90’s DM acts such as Incantation, Profanatica and even black metal bands such as Blasphemy and the like. I’d say they’re up there with newer DM bands such as Witchrist, Vasaeleth and Sanguis Imperem to name a few. This is also a pretty varied release considering the style on offer here.
The songs flow together so well that I can’t pinpoint any stand-out tracks, but in a way that’s the beauty of a record such as this. It’s one of those releases where you have no choice but to put the CD in the player, vinyl under the stylus, cabbage in your bum or tape in the player and let the beast possess you from beginning to end. It’s solid and consistent all the way through.
What to expect: a dark and crushing guitar/bass tone that will cave your skull in, intelligible yet harsh and menacing vocals, killer drumming and an atmosphere that seeps throughout the whole EP and deep into your very soul. This record will possess you.
True old-school death fukking metal. 5/5
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Grave Miasma are a bunch of OSDM maniacs from London who clearly pay no attention to what’s going on in the world of so-called “Death Metal” these days and just crank out the old shit the way they like it. They started off back in ’02 as Goat Molestör, with a slightly more black metal orientated sound, before later becoming Grave Miasma.
“Exalted Emanation” is technically an EP, but the production and length make it feel like a full length album. Upon listening to this, you can tell this is a band that’s taken their time to put together something great. They’ve set themselves a standard here.
The songs on this release are deeply drenched in a thick and evil atmosphere comparable to early 90’s DM acts such as Incantation, Profanatica and even black metal bands such as Blasphemy and the like. I’d say they’re up there with newer DM bands such as Witchrist, Vasaeleth and Sanguis Imperem to name a few. This is also a pretty varied release considering the style on offer here.
The songs flow together so well that I can’t pinpoint any stand-out tracks, but in a way that’s the beauty of a record such as this. It’s one of those releases where you have no choice but to put the CD in the player, vinyl under the stylus, cabbage in your bum or tape in the player and let the beast possess you from beginning to end. It’s solid and consistent all the way through.
What to expect: a dark and crushing guitar/bass tone that will cave your skull in, intelligible yet harsh and menacing vocals, killer drumming and an atmosphere that seeps throughout the whole EP and deep into your very soul. This record will possess you.
True old-school death fukking metal. 5/5
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Rubbish Mob Interview
Rubbish Mob are a gang of true Aussie battlers from the bush in Western Australia. They've been cranking out the metal for over 20 years now. Here's the resulting damage from a chat I had with their vocalist, Sir Insult-A-Lot!
Wayde:
Greetings Sir Insult-A-Lot ya filthy rotten bastard! How's life out there in the bush tonight? Let's hear a bit of background info about Rubbish Mob shall we? Who's in the band? What do you guys play? How long have you been around? How did ya get started up?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
G'Day battler. Cheers for the bloody opportunity for a interview direct from the bush to invade the main lands haha.
Life is tough, hard at times and desolate but that's the way we live up here. Working, hunting, Fishing, Cars & Rock and Roll.
Not much rest for a bastard haha but tonight is a quiet one. Rubbish Mob goes back a long way, to the 80's.
Johnny, Massive and I formed a Thrash metal band named The Mob back in 1985 When we were around 16. We recorded two demos in 1986 and 1987 and we only played a couple of gigs. Not much opportunity to gig up here in Broome/Darby/Darwin areas back then & even now. We had the worst equipment and sound haha. Imagine slayer's Show no mercy album tape left in the sun for a week or 2 then playing that in your hi-fi, that's what we sounded like haha.
There was no metal at all locally we had to wait til we visited relatives in the main cities to visit record shops and buy what we could. We just loved Heavy Metal, Punk & Rock n Roll, We wanted to just go crazy and try make our own rotten sounds hahahaa. The Mob finished in 1989, Then Johnny & I moved towards Perth in the early 90's and we formed another Thrash/Punk band Named Rubbish. This was a barmy time, We recorded 2 demos & 2 ep's and played some decent gigs, Lots of attitude, alcohol and sheilas haha.
After about 10 years of mayhem Johnny & I decided to end Rubbish and go back to our bush community, Back to basic bush life for us. We grew tired of the city life and society. Then the urge returned to do some more musical mayhem, So we decided to start a new band named Rubbish Mob and play some new and old songs again, Pure rotten thrash metal punk and roll.
The band features the 3 original Mob members and 2 new members which are mates for a long time anyway.
Sir Insult-a-lot - Vocals
Johnny Psyclops - Guitar
Mahatma Cote - Guitar
Massive Mini Skip - Bass
Soggy Mac-Arson - Drums
All members live different towns so we hardly rehearse and record now. We get together for the odd gig, rehearsal and recording at least once a year.
We recorded Arsehole metal demo in 2006 and Up in the block hole demo in 2010.
Wayde:
Wow, Rubbish Mob sure has a lot of history!
Let's talk a bit more about the band. What influences (musical and otherwise) go into creating a Rubbish Mob song? How do you achieve your dirty metal/punk sound?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Stacks of fuel for the Rubbish Mob machine. All of us listen to the same tremendous stuff like The Beast (has arrived), Frank Zappa, Political Asylum, Venom, Motorhead, Destruction, Sodom, The Outcasts, Potential Threat, GBH, Discharge, Misfits, Black Sabbath, Goanna, The Syracuse Penetrators etc Punk, Thrash, Metal Mania.
Johnny comes up with all the riffs and most of the music, Soggy, Johnny & I do the lyrics. With the help of the net we can just email ideas to each other now and work out ideas. Also send CDs in the mail to each other as well.
Sound is filthy & rotten probably because we have very bad and old equipment and recording gear haha. But that's the way we like it. The next demo might have a slight improvement in the sound department haha.
Our bush culture, political mongrels, greed, death, society, Perversions and everything else that bad is also an influence. We keep our minds wide open.
Wayde:
Bit of everything, eh?
Now, I know absolutely nothing about metal over there in W.A., is there much of a "scene"? What bands tearing it up over there do you think stand out? Are there any particular bands I should keep a look out for?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Yeah listening to just one genre of music is just silly and boring really.
Ok brother, the W.A scene or whatever you want to call it is split up in 2. The north (being where we are) or the south where Perth is mainly. The south has way more action and interesting bands over the years like Black Alice, Black Steel, Angus McDeth, Trilogy, Saracen, Street Thunder, Project X, Cremator, Nighthawks, Demon Shades and many more. Up here in the north mainly Darwin there's bugger, all way too many new age bands that just don't appeal to me. Some bands I like are Explosive Lords, Back Alley Murder and Disgrace, there's more gigs on at least and more venues.
More people around up here now so that means more music fans but I don't think many of them know any of the old classic stuff. So there's more of everything but the quality and ancient aggression bands & gigs is a bit lacking still. I think it's slowly getting better and better every year which is good. Some of the rock bands still kick around here that's cool. Check those bands out I mentioned, a lot of them are good shit.
Wayde:
Will do mate, thanks for the recommendations!
I noticed two members of Rubbish Mob are Aboriginal, which seems rather uncommon in metal. Do you know if there are many other bands out there which feature Aboriginal members (aside from the obvious one, Alchemist)?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
I didn't even know Alchemist had Aboriginal members myself, haha, that's cool. Yeah Johnny and Massive have Aboriginal blood in them. They are proud aboriginals and have been in a lot of trouble over the years with idiots. Yeah it's uncommon but that's expected I guess. It's hard for many to get into this stuff over here as there's not much opportunity etc. Many communities still have no computers or technology. You just have to be in the right spot at the right time up in this country. It's a shame, hopefully things will improve one day. Some Aboriginals stick to tradition, some will move forward and give things a go when given the chance.
I definitely see more Aboriginals into metal now and music in general then say 20 years ago, but still it isn't much compared to the white fellas. Not many hard bands feature aboriginals in them that I know, Street thunder and Nighthawks have Aboriginals in them. There will be more no doubt.
Wayde:
Onto the subject of your recently released demo "Up in the Block Hole" (which is a fuckin' great time, by the way!). What has the response been to the demo itself, as well as the cover art work featuring a naked vagina and arse hole? What has it been like working with Graveyard Shift Records? Do you feel they are helping you to get your music out to a wider audience?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
The name was stolen from a Warwick Todd book with the same name haha. We love that bloke! The demo response has been generally very good, the cover is more of a piss-take joke on all the bad metal covers these days I see and the standards of living. Sort of feels like everyone is trying to fuck you in the block hole. The image suits the ugly sound and pisses people off that's for sure. A lot of the hardcore metal heads won't touch it or listen to it because they think it's childish haha that's great stuff.
I haven't moved much of the demo around my self I leave that to the Label. We came in contact with the label because one of the band members has family in Melbourne and they know the Graveyard Shift mob, how lucky is that? So, that's how that connection and friendship started a couple of years ago. They have worked well for us, a tremendous effort, very grateful to them. Our demo is all over the world now, haha, which would never have been possible in the old days, they know what they’re doing. Easily our most successful release so far in our musical bush journey haha, a world tour is not far off? Haha!
Wayde:
Seeing as you guys have been playing this type of music for over 20 years, surely you must have some killer stories from your metal trek through the bush, or even some memorable and/or funny stories relating to general bush community life, do you have any you would like to share?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Haha there are many. Always pub fights in this side of the country, One time many years ago Massive just enjoying his smoke and amber juice at the pub bar and then this rough truckie bastard comes in and is fuming yelling out fucking abbos this and that. Everyone is ignoring him, Then this rough bastard looks at massive and goes what do you think of these fucking abbos? Massive replied in his usual smooth manner "I'm a Aborigine, what do you think of that?" Truckie then says "I think you're a piece of shit" Massive threw his glass at the pig and absolutely belted the shit out of him in this pub brawl. Blood and broken bones everywhere! Massive just drank the drop punt's beer and walked out like nothing happen haha, Lucky there was no screws around. That truckie has never returned I don't think haha.
Yeah our cars have broken down in the bush before that's a pain in the arse. Have to sit and wait till someone finds you, we've waited up to 3 days once before. Actually the bush community isn't that much different to any other small towns over Australia it's just a bit more primitive here, that's all. Some town folk pushing wheelbarrows of slabs around, utes with 20 people on it, cars with no doors driving around sometimes, you might find that strange but it's normal up here. Getting chased by crocs isn't fun either we've all stared death in the face more then once, even wrestled a croc myself.
We have supermarkets up here now, so hunting is only for special occasions these days. We’re only starting to get street lights put in now haha.
Being a metal head was hard up here in the old days we used to get shit hanged on us all the time. We've had chairs and beer glasses thrown at us at gigs in the old days haha before brawling with the idiots in the crowd. A funny moment at a gig we've done awhile ago is when we brang a barbie onto the stage and I just started cooking some roo while I was singing haha.
Doing a gig at a local tip back in the 90's was a thrill haha jumping around in all the shit and junk. We annoy everyone with our filthy sound up here haha!
I have to write a book one day about it, so many funnies over the years.
Wayde:
Thanks for sharing those killer stories mate! Classic stuff, haha.
So now that you're getting more attention thanks to the Graveyard Shift crew, what's next for Rubbish Mob? Any future releases planned? What about gigs? Merchandise? I'd dig some Rubbish Mob thongs hahaha!
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Haha, yeah thongs and g-strings would be great for the fans and family. We record another demo sometime soon and some crazy bands want to do split releases with us, so expect some extra filth to be released in the future. Maybe we'll do a compilation of the 80's and 90's recordings one day as well that would be cool.
We have a rare gig on April 22 in Darwin with some crazy bands like street thunder, explosive lords and back alley murder. Expect a night of filth and aggression.
Graveyard shift is making some badges for us soon, maybe we'll have some shirts out one day with a giant arsehole on the front, wouldn't that be great? Haha.
The national dumping shit on Australia tour has to happen sometime in the future haha, prepare for the worst!
So yeah expect to be annoyed with our shit even more in the future no doubt about it!
Wayde:
Great stuff mate. Best of luck to you and the guys!
I'd like to thank you for doing this interview, I really enjoyed our chat! Is there anything else you would like to say to me or the people who read this?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Cheers to you brother for giving us a chance to speak, we raise our beers to you. Keep up the support and work.
Yeah support our filthy sound you bastards, don't be scared of the cover you wimps, listen to the music. Any interest contact us at sewerpit@hotmail.com and the label contact is graveyardshift@hotmail.com
Look after your arseholes, The councils and government want to fuck you over. Keep on fighting them!
Guard your beers & meat we will invade the sewage cities in the future. All hell let loose by the soldiers from the bush.
Cheerio!
Wayde:
Greetings Sir Insult-A-Lot ya filthy rotten bastard! How's life out there in the bush tonight? Let's hear a bit of background info about Rubbish Mob shall we? Who's in the band? What do you guys play? How long have you been around? How did ya get started up?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
G'Day battler. Cheers for the bloody opportunity for a interview direct from the bush to invade the main lands haha.
Life is tough, hard at times and desolate but that's the way we live up here. Working, hunting, Fishing, Cars & Rock and Roll.
Not much rest for a bastard haha but tonight is a quiet one. Rubbish Mob goes back a long way, to the 80's.
Johnny, Massive and I formed a Thrash metal band named The Mob back in 1985 When we were around 16. We recorded two demos in 1986 and 1987 and we only played a couple of gigs. Not much opportunity to gig up here in Broome/Darby/Darwin areas back then & even now. We had the worst equipment and sound haha. Imagine slayer's Show no mercy album tape left in the sun for a week or 2 then playing that in your hi-fi, that's what we sounded like haha.
There was no metal at all locally we had to wait til we visited relatives in the main cities to visit record shops and buy what we could. We just loved Heavy Metal, Punk & Rock n Roll, We wanted to just go crazy and try make our own rotten sounds hahahaa. The Mob finished in 1989, Then Johnny & I moved towards Perth in the early 90's and we formed another Thrash/Punk band Named Rubbish. This was a barmy time, We recorded 2 demos & 2 ep's and played some decent gigs, Lots of attitude, alcohol and sheilas haha.
After about 10 years of mayhem Johnny & I decided to end Rubbish and go back to our bush community, Back to basic bush life for us. We grew tired of the city life and society. Then the urge returned to do some more musical mayhem, So we decided to start a new band named Rubbish Mob and play some new and old songs again, Pure rotten thrash metal punk and roll.
The band features the 3 original Mob members and 2 new members which are mates for a long time anyway.
Sir Insult-a-lot - Vocals
Johnny Psyclops - Guitar
Mahatma Cote - Guitar
Massive Mini Skip - Bass
Soggy Mac-Arson - Drums
All members live different towns so we hardly rehearse and record now. We get together for the odd gig, rehearsal and recording at least once a year.
We recorded Arsehole metal demo in 2006 and Up in the block hole demo in 2010.
Wayde:
Wow, Rubbish Mob sure has a lot of history!
Let's talk a bit more about the band. What influences (musical and otherwise) go into creating a Rubbish Mob song? How do you achieve your dirty metal/punk sound?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Stacks of fuel for the Rubbish Mob machine. All of us listen to the same tremendous stuff like The Beast (has arrived), Frank Zappa, Political Asylum, Venom, Motorhead, Destruction, Sodom, The Outcasts, Potential Threat, GBH, Discharge, Misfits, Black Sabbath, Goanna, The Syracuse Penetrators etc Punk, Thrash, Metal Mania.
Johnny comes up with all the riffs and most of the music, Soggy, Johnny & I do the lyrics. With the help of the net we can just email ideas to each other now and work out ideas. Also send CDs in the mail to each other as well.
Sound is filthy & rotten probably because we have very bad and old equipment and recording gear haha. But that's the way we like it. The next demo might have a slight improvement in the sound department haha.
Our bush culture, political mongrels, greed, death, society, Perversions and everything else that bad is also an influence. We keep our minds wide open.
Wayde:
Bit of everything, eh?
Now, I know absolutely nothing about metal over there in W.A., is there much of a "scene"? What bands tearing it up over there do you think stand out? Are there any particular bands I should keep a look out for?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Yeah listening to just one genre of music is just silly and boring really.
Ok brother, the W.A scene or whatever you want to call it is split up in 2. The north (being where we are) or the south where Perth is mainly. The south has way more action and interesting bands over the years like Black Alice, Black Steel, Angus McDeth, Trilogy, Saracen, Street Thunder, Project X, Cremator, Nighthawks, Demon Shades and many more. Up here in the north mainly Darwin there's bugger, all way too many new age bands that just don't appeal to me. Some bands I like are Explosive Lords, Back Alley Murder and Disgrace, there's more gigs on at least and more venues.
More people around up here now so that means more music fans but I don't think many of them know any of the old classic stuff. So there's more of everything but the quality and ancient aggression bands & gigs is a bit lacking still. I think it's slowly getting better and better every year which is good. Some of the rock bands still kick around here that's cool. Check those bands out I mentioned, a lot of them are good shit.
Wayde:
Will do mate, thanks for the recommendations!
I noticed two members of Rubbish Mob are Aboriginal, which seems rather uncommon in metal. Do you know if there are many other bands out there which feature Aboriginal members (aside from the obvious one, Alchemist)?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
I didn't even know Alchemist had Aboriginal members myself, haha, that's cool. Yeah Johnny and Massive have Aboriginal blood in them. They are proud aboriginals and have been in a lot of trouble over the years with idiots. Yeah it's uncommon but that's expected I guess. It's hard for many to get into this stuff over here as there's not much opportunity etc. Many communities still have no computers or technology. You just have to be in the right spot at the right time up in this country. It's a shame, hopefully things will improve one day. Some Aboriginals stick to tradition, some will move forward and give things a go when given the chance.
I definitely see more Aboriginals into metal now and music in general then say 20 years ago, but still it isn't much compared to the white fellas. Not many hard bands feature aboriginals in them that I know, Street thunder and Nighthawks have Aboriginals in them. There will be more no doubt.
Wayde:
Onto the subject of your recently released demo "Up in the Block Hole" (which is a fuckin' great time, by the way!). What has the response been to the demo itself, as well as the cover art work featuring a naked vagina and arse hole? What has it been like working with Graveyard Shift Records? Do you feel they are helping you to get your music out to a wider audience?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
The name was stolen from a Warwick Todd book with the same name haha. We love that bloke! The demo response has been generally very good, the cover is more of a piss-take joke on all the bad metal covers these days I see and the standards of living. Sort of feels like everyone is trying to fuck you in the block hole. The image suits the ugly sound and pisses people off that's for sure. A lot of the hardcore metal heads won't touch it or listen to it because they think it's childish haha that's great stuff.
I haven't moved much of the demo around my self I leave that to the Label. We came in contact with the label because one of the band members has family in Melbourne and they know the Graveyard Shift mob, how lucky is that? So, that's how that connection and friendship started a couple of years ago. They have worked well for us, a tremendous effort, very grateful to them. Our demo is all over the world now, haha, which would never have been possible in the old days, they know what they’re doing. Easily our most successful release so far in our musical bush journey haha, a world tour is not far off? Haha!
Wayde:
Seeing as you guys have been playing this type of music for over 20 years, surely you must have some killer stories from your metal trek through the bush, or even some memorable and/or funny stories relating to general bush community life, do you have any you would like to share?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Haha there are many. Always pub fights in this side of the country, One time many years ago Massive just enjoying his smoke and amber juice at the pub bar and then this rough truckie bastard comes in and is fuming yelling out fucking abbos this and that. Everyone is ignoring him, Then this rough bastard looks at massive and goes what do you think of these fucking abbos? Massive replied in his usual smooth manner "I'm a Aborigine, what do you think of that?" Truckie then says "I think you're a piece of shit" Massive threw his glass at the pig and absolutely belted the shit out of him in this pub brawl. Blood and broken bones everywhere! Massive just drank the drop punt's beer and walked out like nothing happen haha, Lucky there was no screws around. That truckie has never returned I don't think haha.
Yeah our cars have broken down in the bush before that's a pain in the arse. Have to sit and wait till someone finds you, we've waited up to 3 days once before. Actually the bush community isn't that much different to any other small towns over Australia it's just a bit more primitive here, that's all. Some town folk pushing wheelbarrows of slabs around, utes with 20 people on it, cars with no doors driving around sometimes, you might find that strange but it's normal up here. Getting chased by crocs isn't fun either we've all stared death in the face more then once, even wrestled a croc myself.
We have supermarkets up here now, so hunting is only for special occasions these days. We’re only starting to get street lights put in now haha.
Being a metal head was hard up here in the old days we used to get shit hanged on us all the time. We've had chairs and beer glasses thrown at us at gigs in the old days haha before brawling with the idiots in the crowd. A funny moment at a gig we've done awhile ago is when we brang a barbie onto the stage and I just started cooking some roo while I was singing haha.
Doing a gig at a local tip back in the 90's was a thrill haha jumping around in all the shit and junk. We annoy everyone with our filthy sound up here haha!
I have to write a book one day about it, so many funnies over the years.
Wayde:
Thanks for sharing those killer stories mate! Classic stuff, haha.
So now that you're getting more attention thanks to the Graveyard Shift crew, what's next for Rubbish Mob? Any future releases planned? What about gigs? Merchandise? I'd dig some Rubbish Mob thongs hahaha!
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Haha, yeah thongs and g-strings would be great for the fans and family. We record another demo sometime soon and some crazy bands want to do split releases with us, so expect some extra filth to be released in the future. Maybe we'll do a compilation of the 80's and 90's recordings one day as well that would be cool.
We have a rare gig on April 22 in Darwin with some crazy bands like street thunder, explosive lords and back alley murder. Expect a night of filth and aggression.
Graveyard shift is making some badges for us soon, maybe we'll have some shirts out one day with a giant arsehole on the front, wouldn't that be great? Haha.
The national dumping shit on Australia tour has to happen sometime in the future haha, prepare for the worst!
So yeah expect to be annoyed with our shit even more in the future no doubt about it!
Wayde:
Great stuff mate. Best of luck to you and the guys!
I'd like to thank you for doing this interview, I really enjoyed our chat! Is there anything else you would like to say to me or the people who read this?
Sir Insult-A-Lot:
Cheers to you brother for giving us a chance to speak, we raise our beers to you. Keep up the support and work.
Yeah support our filthy sound you bastards, don't be scared of the cover you wimps, listen to the music. Any interest contact us at sewerpit@hotmail.com and the label contact is graveyardshift@hotmail.com
Look after your arseholes, The councils and government want to fuck you over. Keep on fighting them!
Guard your beers & meat we will invade the sewage cities in the future. All hell let loose by the soldiers from the bush.
Cheerio!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Perdition Temple - Edict of the Antichrist Elect
Angelcorpse fan? Morbid Angel fan? If so, you’ll be excited to know that two former Angelcorpse members (Gene Palubicki and Terry “Warhead” Eleftheriou) have picked up where Angelcorpse left off in 2009 and released a bat shit insane Morbid Angel worshipping album that stands a cut above most other bands who kneel at the altar of madness.
Perdition Temple is 2-piece that truly stands out in these times of “new-old school death metal”. Imagine this; swirling “Altars of Madness” inspired riffs, well thought out lyrics, intense and technical drumming and beastly vocals (while no Pete Helmkamp, Gene can roar with the best of them). “Edict of the Antichrist Elect” is an album that will wreck your neck non-stop from start to finish.
There is a lot to like about this album. The guitar tone is pure old-school death metal darkness and works well with the bass to create a feeling of desperation and insanity. The drumming is extremely intense and really pushes the songs along, Terry is very talented at what he does.
The axe work on this album is definitely a high point and should please any of you guitar nerds out there. Technical (in the good, non-wankery way) riffs and solos are to be found all over the place here and it’s no secret that Gene really knows his way around his instrument of choice.
Every single song on here is great, however, towards the middle of the album it gets a bit of the old “one long song” syndrome happening and it seems like the boys are running out of ideas for a while there.This is rectified later on, though, so don’t expect to get bored or find yourself reaching for the skip button.
This is another one of those albums where it’s hard to choose a favourite or stand out track. “Genocide Evocation” is a fantastic opening track that sets the tone for the whole album and definitely deserves a mention here, as do the songs “In the name of a Newborn Tyrant” and “Spearhead of the Conquering”, although it is in between these two tracks that the album seems to get a bit of the aforementioned “one long song” syndrome going on.
As I mentioned earlier, this band sounds a LOT like “Altars of Madness” era Morbid Angel jamming with Angelcorpse, so don’t pick this up expecting something entirely fresh and new, but don’t expect it to be a throwback or a tribute either. Whack it in the CD player or under the stylus and bang your fucking head to some great death metal!
3.5/5
BUY IT: http://www.osmoseproductions.com/liste/?srt=1&lng=2&stringa=perdition+temple&fmt=0&search=GO!
Trench Hell - Southern Cross Ripper
Trench Hell is a 3-piece old-school Heavy/Thrash/Speed metal band in the style of Motorhead and Running Wild with heavy Hellhammer influences. It’s an odd melting pot of styles that seems to work very well for the band. Their EP “Southern Cross Ripper” was unleashed back in 2008.
The band is spread around between the NSW central coast and Canberra, Australia. It’s three members have been involved with a lot of underground Australian acts including Kill For Satan, Psychrist, Shackles, Gospel of the Horns, Urgrund and Nocturnal Graves (not to mention the guitarist, Hexx, was also a live member for Toxic Holocaust).
If this info doesn’t get your panties wet then stop reading now.
These guys certainly don’t muck around, the first intro “Night Stalker” starts off with a straightforward fist pumping riff that straight away made me think “FUCK YEAH, MOTORHEAD!”. The guitar tone is great, you can hear the bass and there’s no triggered drum poofter shit going on here.
Track 2 “Southern Cross Ripper” continues the vibe the intro gave off with thumping bass, catchy as hell riffs, a good drum sound and those Tom Warrior vs. Lemmy title fight vocals. There’s also a killer solo about halfway through. Basically this song is everything good old fashion ‘eavy fookin’ mehtul should be!
Now for “Armoured Fist”. Seriously though, do I even need to discuss this one? What’s not to love about a song called ARMOURED FIST? Needless to say, it kicks in with a fast riff that’ll have you nodding your head straight away. Just another straightforward fun as hell metal song! The way heavy metal damn well should be.
“Morbid Crimes” again punches you in the face and instantly has you banging your head, although I would consider it to be my least favourite track on the EP (in saying that, it’s not a weak track at all, just not as great as the others in my opinion). Basically it’s consistently energetic and has a straightforward feeling drenched in an old-school Hellhammer styled atmosphere.
“Last Rites” is the longest track on the EP. With more variety in the pace, what sounds like some bitch getting raped in the back ground and a much more sinister vibe than the other songs on offer here, this is my favourite of the release. It has a very morbid vibe that is unmatched by the other tracks.
The final track “Infernal Screaming” is a faster “speed-metalish” number that brings forth a definite early Running Wild influence in the instruments. An excellent choice to finish things up with.
All in all, if you’re a fan of Hellhammer, Motorhead, and filthy sounding old-school heavy metal in general, I would highly recommend skipping over to www.thecoffinsslave.com and buying this directly from the guitarist himself, you won't regret it.
4.5/5
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Excoriate - On Pestilent Winds...
“Unique” seems to be a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, especially when discussing music. It’s the kind of word that you really have to take with a grain of salt, especially within an oversaturated genre such as Death Metal. If I were to tell you there was an old-school sounding DM band formed in the 2000’s that DIDN’T sound like any other specific band, would you believe me? Probably not. Excoriate is that band.
Excoriate was a band consisting of old-school metal maniacs from Germany. “On Pestilent Winds…” was the only full length they recorded before breaking up in 2006 (it was actually released posthumously in January 2009).
When I say this band is unique, I don’t mean they’re reinventing the wheel or anything like that! There are obvious influences lurking within this bands filthy brand of OSDM. The most prominent influences I’ve noticed in their sound are Asphyx, (early) Sepultura (who’s song “Mayhem” they cover on the album), Hellhammer and Possessed.
Now, let’s get into a bit of detail about the sound. The guitars here reek of that old-school “chainsaw” tone with an air of morbid atmosphere in the way they’re played, the guitar really sets a mood on this record. Bass is audible and fits in with the guitar sound I just described, not much else to say about it really, it just adds that certain “thickness” to the atmosphere, like a good bass sound should. The drumming is tight and works well for the different sections within each song. Vocals sound like Lemmy and Jeff Beccerra having a fist fight about who’s manlier.
The songs on here certainly don’t follow any specific formula unless you count “sound as morbid and old-school as possible” as a formula. For a release that reeks of so many ODSM influences, it’s really refreshing to hear songs with a good amount of variety and originality, and this is what sets Excoriate above the rest of the pack.
I’m not going to go deeply into describing what each song sounds like on this record, as I feel it’s one of those old-school metal releases that needs to be experienced for oneself. This may be straight up “Old-School Death Metal”, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Basically, if you’re a DM fan who needs to hear something suffocating and evil that doesn’t follow any trends or copy any of the legends yet still sounds like it was recorded in the early 90’s, get your filthy mits on this!
5/5 This is definitely one of the most original Death Metal albums I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of hearing.
BUY IT: www.thecoffinsslave.com
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